The main issue with painting light bulbs is the need for non-aqueous paints (water-based paints won't adhere properly to the glass and will soon flake off).

I know Krylon makes a line of translucent spray paints intended for stained-glass, but I have not tried them; if the paint is able to resist the temperature of the bulb (shouldn't be too hot with #44s) it could be an easy solution.

I have experimented with using alcohol inks for this purpose with flasher bulbs. Bottom line is it's very easy to layer it on a light bulb and get good, saturated colors, but the coating is not particularly heat-resistant and deteriorates fairly quickly. I am still experimenting with various brands of ink (wife uses them in crafting) to solve the heat problem, but given that #44 bulbs run cooler it could work in your situation.

If you want frosted appearance, the silicone sleeves you mention are fine (and won't melt); the light quality is similar to the old frosted X-mas lights.

One thing to note which may save some frustration is the fact that it's almost impossible to get good blue or purple light out of an incandescent, regardless of the paint method used; the best you will be able to do is a somewhat washed-out bluish-white color (because incandescents inherently emit much less blue/purple light than longer wavelength red/orange/yellow).

I bought some paint specifically meant for painting "stained glass" window panels. It worked ok. Required a few coats to get the coating to the right level of opacity.

PBResource has a bunch of colored bulbs: http://www.pbresource.com/lamps.html

I have used permanent markets in the past. Worked pretty good.

I just buy an extra box or two of Eiko bulbs in any of the needed colors each time I order from Marco or PBL. Its like $3 a box for most colors. Amazing how many colors they come in! The rainbows of colors for 44/555 are pretty easy to find. The 906's a bit harder and more expensive and usually sold by the bulb for most colors. I find it great to have a few on-hand anytime I pull the glass and especially go underneath a playfield for any reason. Sometimes I find the colored bulbs restore a bit of the richness to older plastic inserts of the same color. (Blue bulb under a blue insert kinda thing). I had previously tried the alchohol inks on regular bulbs, but the heat kills the color pretty quick.

15 years ago I colored all my bulbs go to a craft store and ask Transparent Glass Paint by Delta . 2 oz bottle you can tape a bulb to a pencil - dip the bulb up to the brass . pull it out and spend the next 30 min . twirling it around till it dries even . let set over night .

The Krylon translucent paints work well on lamps.
I used to paint them myself before I convinced Eiko to do it (which they will no longer do).
Terry.

Steve Young taught me a great trick years ago. I used to buy boxes of blue bulbs for my Strato-Flite, I use 15 under the PF. The color wears off quickly. Steve said, “Why are you wasting money on bulbs, just paint them with nail polish”.

I have been using nail polish now for years. What’s great about it is, I can make a bulb any color I need and it last forever.
I have about 25 different colors I use now. Comes in very handy when you have that pinhole speck in a backglass, just put a dab of color on top of the bulb and voila, pinhole disappears.

I've used markers too. They can tint a bulb a bit, sometime just what you need. Also spray painted new bulbs, red for Gottlieb's Mars God of War chaser lights, holding the bulbs in the cardboard insert from a box of 10 bulbs (kept the bases clean). And slipped an occasional colored bulb behind backglass flaws, just like Mikala mentions.

A friend of mine still uses this stuff. Gotta be from the 40's or 50's. Maybe older.

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ebay.com link: Dial Lite Coloring Kit for Dial Lights Signal Lights